Home ›
eSports News ›
New York City FC announce their first Professional FIFA player

New York City FC announce their first Professional FIFA player

11 April 2017 13:54

The growth of eSports has been significant in recent times, with more games, tournaments and prize money worldwide than ever before. This growth continues with the recent announcement that New York City Football Club have signed Christopher Holly as the first-ever Major League Soccer (MLS) FIFA player.

Holly will now represent the American-based club in future FIFA gaming tournaments around the world, and will also play the club’s fans and players. The performances of the United States-born gamer will also be live streamed on video sharing websites such as YouTube and Twitch.

20-year-old Holly follows in the footsteps of Manchester City’s Kieran ‘Kez’ Brown, West Ham United’s Sean Allen, and Wolfsburg’s David Bytheway – all now professional eSports FIFA players signed to professional football clubs.

Holly trains 25 hours a week playing FIFA, and is reportedly ranked number three in the FIFA Ultimate Team Champions Leaderboard for Americas playing on the PS4, with 191 wins and only 9 losses. He will now travel to Vancouver, Canada, for a tournament on 22nd April 2017 in an attempt to qualify for the FIFA Ultimate Team World Championships in Berlin later this year.

Christopher has been signed because of eSports’ growing popularity - and combined with FIFA’s worldwide appeal – and will be used as a marketing and promotional tool to help New York City FC grow off the field in more countries and locations.

FIFA, created by Electronic Arts (EA Sports), is the household name within its field, releasing an updated version every year for Xbox and PlayStation consoles. Given its popularity amongst amateur fans, it is no surprise that FIFA is becoming a successful part of the eSports calendar. Who knows, we may end up seeing a console based FIFA world cup in the coming years.